FORT COLLINS — Colorado State’s men’s basketball program has received an oral commitment from 6-foot-9, 230-pound Daniel Mulamba of Southwestern Christian (Junior) College in Texas, according to GoldandGreenNews.com, the CSU-based affiliate of rivals.com.

A native of South Africa, Mulamba averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds as a freshman at SWCC.

He becomes the second known commitment for CSU, joining 6-2 guard Jeremiah Paige of Aurora’s Rangeview High School.

Per NCAA rules, CSU coach Larry Eustachy is prohibited from talking about specific recruits until they sign national letters of intent. But Eustachy told me Monday that he may sign up to four or five players for the current recruiting cycle.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Speaking Wednesday during Mountain West men’s basketball media-days interviews, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy said freshman Carlton Hurst has been one of CSU’s early surprises.

Hurst, a 6-foot-3 guard, shoots better from the outside than Eustachy expected.

Colorado State’s Pierce Hornung passes the ball while lying on the court against Jewuan Long of Murray State.

Sometimes life just doesn’t seem fair.

That’s what Colorado State men’s basketball fans must be thinking when they receive word that senior guard Jesse Carr reinjured the ACL in his left knee this week and his college career is over.

A native of Ainsworth, Neb., Carr had been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after initially injuring the knee on September, 20, 2012. That forced him to sit out the 2012-13 season. He sat out the 2009-10 season with a strained groin.

As a true freshman in 2008-09, Carr averaged 8.8 points and appeared to be a building block for the Rams program. But injuries prevented him from reaching his on-court potential.

Gary Miller, seen here in the studio during his morning sports radio talk show, will do the play-by-play for Colorado State football starting in 2013. Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post

Gary Miller will be the play-by-play radio announcer for Colorado State football and men’s basketball games starting this fall, the school announced on Wednesday.

Miller, who has been at KCNC-4 since 1991 as a sportscaster, will also host the coaches’ shows during the week. Miller has done television play-by-play for the Broncos’ preseason games and has done a number of the high school championships for football and basketball. He worked on University of Colorado telecasts for basketball in the early 1990s.

CSU starts a new partnership in July with 105.5 ESPN. Miller will host the Jim McElwain coaches’ show on Thursday during football season, and a Larry Eustachy show during basketball.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No matter how many years I do this, the tears are always tough to see. Colorado State’s seniors had plenty of them in the locker room after their season – and careers – came to an end with brute force in the loss to Louisville here in the NCAA Tournament.

Still.

What those seniors – Pierce Hornung, Wes Eikmeier, Dorian Green, Greg Smith and (this season) Colton Iverson – did for a dormant CSU basketball program can be nothing but celebrated. If the Rams end up being an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament, if they someday make a deep run in this tournament, whoever those players are will have these to thank.

“They’re the foundation,” CSU coach Larry Eustachy said. “They are the first steppingstone to greatness. They got everything out of what they had, and more. And more. Make no mistake about it; and more. We’ll have a nice locker room because of them, we’ll have better facilities because of them. They can come back in their five, 10, 20-year reunion and they’ll see big changes and it will be because of them.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – One of the first pressing appointments Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy needed to keep when he got into town was a meeting with his old friend, Tom Jurich.

Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich.

Former Colorado State athletic director Tom Jurich.

The NCAA Selection Committee gets a kick out of scheduling matchups – or potential matchups down the road – between teams with connections. This time, it simply lucked out. Jurich and Eustachy go way back. They grew up together in Arcadia, Calif., attending the same middle school and same high school and playing on the same Arcadia High basketball team.

“He’s been a terrific friend for 50 years, it’s getting close to,” Jurich said.

The two will be on different sides of the fence Saturday, when Eustachy’s newest team, CSU, meets one of the many sports programs Jurich presides over, Louisville basketball. But despite this one day of split loyalties, the mutual respect never wanes.

“He’s someone that I’ve always rooted for, and to say that he’s turned his life around, I think he’s done more than that,” Jurich said. “He’s excelling again – people forget he was the National Coach of the Year. This is a guy that did a phenomenal job in Ames, Ia., which probably wasn’t that easy to do. So I give him all kinds of credit for that. Just to watch that team (Thursday) night, I know the unbelievable respect our team and coach (Rick) Pitino has for that group. That was very impressive, what they did (Thursday) night.”

On the sidelines, Eustachy has been known to stomp it out, really getting into officials or his players, whichever one has drawn his ire at that moment.

Intensity, Jurich said, has always been a part of the Eustachy makeup.

“He was very competitive and intense,” Jurich said. “But he’s also very laid back. And he’s a guy that didn’t let a lot of things bother him. Larry was a terrific player in high school. Even in middle school he was a terrific player. He was a wonderful teammate and a wonderful guy and I just couldn’t be happier for all of his success he’s having at Colorado State.”

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LEXINGTON, KY. – With allowances that this Colorado State team, in fact is not just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament and, yes, continues to have unfinished business, the win over Missouri – the Rams’ first in the NCAA Tournament in 24 years – was one of the most significant in school history.

“This is why we came here, you know, to put this program on the map and make this an expected thing each year,” guard Dorian Green said. “So this is what we set to do when we first got here on campus, and it’s great to see the hard work pay off.

“We’ve just got to stay at it and keep going because we only have 40 minutes guaranteed left. I think it’s huge for us to play with a lot of urgency but I think it’s just what we set to do since we first got here.”

Said teammate Greg Smith: “We really set out to do this when we were freshmen, especially me and Pierce (Hornung) were talking about it when we were younger. This is what we want to do at this point. Now, we’re starting to do it. This is great to see all our work paying off, and we’re trying to get a win on Saturday.”

CSU coach Larry Eustachy called the victory “historical,” and Hornung, a four-year player, helped put it into perspective as well.

“It’s huge,” Hornung said. “This is the ultimate stage and I think as a team it’s a start for what we want to accomplish. But we’re not satisfied. We still feel like we have a lot to go out there and prove.”

The bench sees CSU through. Colton Iverson leaving the game is never a good thing for CSU, which relies on the big man for so much.

“He’s so big and he draws so much attention,” Eustachy said.

But for a big chunk of the first half, Iverson was saddled to the bench with foul trouble. That’s when the bench stepped in and not only held serve, but helped CSU pull away at times as well. The trio of Daniel Bejarano, Jon Octeus and Gerson Santo combined to score 25 points, the second-highest total this season, trailing 48 points off the bench early in the season in a blowout victory over Chadron State.

These meant more.

“Octeus and Santo were just huge,” guard Wes Eikmeier said. “Especially the way Jon came in and guarded (Missouri guard Phil) Pressey. Without the bench you’re not going to tin the game.”

“Our bench is unbelievable,” CSU forward Greg Smith said. “The things that Jon, DB and Gerson come off the bench and do is just incredible when their name is called. Jon stayed in front of Pressey… Gerson gave us some really strong minutes and DB cam and made some big plays. They’ve been doing that all year. They should receive a lot more credit for it, but tonight was just a really good example of that.”

Rebounding edge. Colorado State’s 42-19 edge on the boards was the second-highest rebound margin of the season. The Rams were +24 on the boards three times – in both games against Wyoming and against Washington.

“I thought we were tremendously fresh for this game,” Eustachy said. Meanwhile, players joked afterward that they were “the freshest team in the tournament.”

“I think our guards did a great job of coming down and rebounding,” Pierce Hornung said. “They were as focused as ever at rebounding down and helping us when they could. It was just a complete team effort, I think that contributed to why we were so successful on the boards.”

X & O of the Game: Getting into the lane. Whether it was a guard breaking down his defender or cutters in the lane being hit with passes, CSU wanted paint touches and it got them. They were rewarded for that aggressive-minded play with 33 free throw attempts. The Rams made 27 and had a 10-point edge at the charity stripe.

Player of the Game: Dorian Green. It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t do Thursday night, on his way to arguably his best, most efficient game of the season – 26 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 11-of-12 from the free throw line and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. CSU is now 3-1 when he scores 20 or more this season and is 7-1 when he hits three or more 3-pointers in a game.

Unsung Player of the Game: Jon Octeus. The sophomore guard had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. His 12 points were one off his season high and was the first time he scored in double figures since tallying 10 points against Air Force on Jan. 16. But his defense on Phil Pressey was the highlight. Octeus’ quick feet kept the slippery Pressey in front of the defense more often than not and contributed to the MU not having an impactful game.

Injury report: None.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dorian Green was as deft at dodging the question as he was as scoring the basketball on Thursday night. The Colorado State senior guard just was not going to be pulled into an in-depth discussion on how much, he, a Lawrence, Kan., man, hates all things Missouri.

“It didn’t matter if we were playing Missouri or whoever,” Green deadpanned. “I wanted to be aggressive from the beginning. But it feels good to be from Kansas and beat Missouri.”

The text messages from back home started pouring into Green’s cell phone mere minutes after the two teams were announced on Selection Sunday. ‘Beat Missouri,’ was the gist of it. But Green never had to be told or reminded or cajoled. It was already engrained in him.

And not even a still-healing ankle, recovering from a sprain, would stop him.

Green scored seven points right out of the gate, a big part of a 20-9 lead the Rams built by the 12:33 mark in the first half. He ended up scoring 17 points in the half on his way to a season-high 26 points on 6-of-13 shooting; 26 more points than he scored in last year’s NCAA Tournament game. And he was aggressive to the rim, one time even trying to dunk on Missouri’s biggest player and best shot-blocker, Alex Oriakhi. That aggressiveness resulted in 12 free throw attempts, of which he nailed 11.

“Dorian is unbelievable,” teammate Pierce Hornung said. “He’s a great player. We know what he’s capable of, night-in and night-out. He’s just that good a player. And we knew coming into this game with the ankle and everything that he was going to have a big game, because that’s just the type of player he is. He’s a big-game player that leads our team and I can’t say enough about what he brings to our team and how good a player he is.”

Green stayed matter-of-fact about his performance.

“I just want to come out and be aggressive, and I got a lot of good looks,” Green said. “Credit to my teammates. We moved the ball well. We’re such an unselfish team, any one of us can get it going. Tonight, it was me.”

Green’s coach, Larry Eustachy, was most impressed with Green’s ability to play solid defense on the times he guarded Missouri’s star guard, Phil Pressey.

“I think as big as anything, he did a great job of staying in front of Pressey,” Eustachy said. “We decided we were, if we’re going to lose, we were going to let Pressey beat us from the outside… So, more impressive that the 26 points was the way he played on that ankle with the pain defensively and rebounding-wise.

“I told him ‘You’re not 100 percent, but you’re going to have to play 120 percent for us to win this game. And he had to, and he did; and it’s something he’ll always remember.”

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Last year, the Colorado State point guard authored one of the worst games of his career on this, an NCAA Tournament stage against Murray State: 0-6 from the field 0-2 from 3-point range. Zero points, five turnovers.

So yes, there is a little redemption that’s a part of his mindset this time around.

“I just didn’t play well. I thought I played terrible, honestly,” Green said. “So I think I have personally a lot to prove. I’m excited for the opportunity and the challenge to compete again and play better than I did last year.”

He’ll be able to do so tomorrow night against Missouri, on a near-healthy right ankle. Green, who has been recovering from a sprain, said “I feel good. I practiced today and I felt as close to normal as I have in a long time. I don’t know what percentage, but I feel a lot better. The pain is going away. Tomorrow we don’t play until late so I’ve got another full day of rehab before we play again.”

He’ll go against speedy Missouri guard Phil Pressey in one of the key matchups in the game. Teammate Wes Eikmeier smiled when asked if Green mentioned he wanted to play better in this year’s tournament.

“I don’t think he’s brought that up a lot, maybe just wanted to forget about it,” Eikmeier said, with a slight chuckle. “I’m sure something like that is sticking with him. Our whole team did not play very well last year. I don’t know if the whole situation got t us last year, we were surprised or whatever. This year we’re here to win, it’s just a completely different feel than it was last year.”

That starts with Green, who was second on the team in scoring (12.8) and led the team in assists (3.8). He’s the floor general, a player that coach Larry Eustachy said they can’t do without, especially this time of the year.

“It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth,” Green said. “I don’t really care about scoring. I want to impact the game as much as I can and give our team the best chance to win. I think I just need to be aggressive. It doesn’t really matter if I’m putting the ball in the basket. For me, the biggest focus is on defense and just helping the team win in as many ways as possible.”

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LAS VEGAS – Back in February, after a particularly satisfying victory at Air Force, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy was asked A) If his team was a ‘great’ team and B) If it wasn’t what would qualify it as such.

At the time, he said that no, it wasn’t necessarily a great team just yet, then joked that it could do one thing for him to place it in ‘great’ status.

Eustachy’s response: “Keep winning. Go to the Elite 8. Get my bonuses; then they’d be a great team.”

In jest, of course.

But as his Rams head in on a collision course with the NCAA Tournament, guess what? Eustachy’s team is, in fact, helping him hit those bonuses – so much so that in his first season in Fort Collins, Eustachy is will be a million-dollar coach.

Starting with a base salary of $750,000 that assumes no NCAA violations and meeting graduation requirements, Eustachy will collect $100,000 for getting his team to 20 wins – they have 25 and counting – and $250,000 more for getting his team to the NCAA Tournament. That alone pushes his earnings to $1.1 million. All that remains is a $100,000 bonus for advancing to the Sweet 16 to realize the full potential of $1.2 million.

And if any of that isn’t great, what is?

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LAS VEGAS – No Colorado State player even showed the slightest bit of concern.

The Rams’ Friday night Mountain West tournament semifinal game against UNLV is in fact a home game for the Rebels, who will play it in front of a capacity crowd in their own arena. It is not a new issue for a tournament that has been played in Las Vegas for many years, but it is an issue just the same.

“I can’t control it,” CSU coach Larry Eustachy said. “I can cry about it all I want. Coaches don’t determine anything, the higher ups do. And if I’m a higher up, it makes sense (to have it here). It is what it is.”

Colorado State split two games against UNLV this season, each team winning on its home court. Winning at UNLV has been a problem for CSU pretty much forever with a record of 4-18 in games played in Las Vegas. And while the Rams did win in Vegas in 2011, it is their only victory on the road against UNLV since 2001.

“It is what it is,” guard Wes Eikmeier said. “It’s an opportunity for us to win on someone else’s court. There’s no better feeling than that. So we’ll be ready to compete.”

Said center Colton Iverson: “I’m not too worried about that.”

Eustachy, while shrugging it off just as long as the win counts as a road RPI win should CSU get it, said he agrees with having the tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in a destination city like Las Vegas.

“I totally agree with the venue, it’s just money, man,” Eustachy said. “You think all of these people from Wyoming are going to come to Albuquerque if it’s in Albquerque? It’s a money maker, that’s what it is and that’s life. Accept it.”

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LAS VEGAS – Colorado State guard Dorian Green will once again be a game-time decision as he rehabs a sprained right ankle in advance of Friday’s Mountain West tournament semifinal against UNLV.

The senior practiced today, which was a positive sign. Green reported feeling better running and cutting, but by no means is anywhere near 100 percent. The plan is to have him suit up and go through warmups before making a final decision.

“It’s getting better,” Green said. “Today was huge.”

CSU coach Larry Eustachy doesn’t sound too enthusiastic about running his senior leader out there for a game that won’t mean much in terms of the Rams NCAA Tournament fortunes. Eustachy would rather have a fully healthy Green for next week’s tournament game than a hobbled one against the Rebels.

Still, he reluctantly did not rule out Green’s presence on the court tomorrow.

Even if Green does play, there’s a good chance he’ll be held to a minute-limit — in the 20-minute range — and may not start. Sophomore Jon Octeus started in his place in the quarterfinal game against Fresno State, and got good reviews from Eustachy.

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Colorado State guard Dorian Green is not expected to play on Friday in the Rams Mountain West tournament semifinal matchup against UNLV.

“I don’t think he’ll play,” coach Larry Eustachy said. “I think it’s almost etched in stone that he won’t play. He wanted to try it…and I just said ‘no.’ He’s just not right. It’s a little more severe than we thought.”

Green missed the first game of his career on Wednesday afternoon in CSU’s win over Fresno State in a Mountain West quarterfinal game. He had played in 127 straight games until Wednesday. He said he wanted to play against Fresno State, but decided against it.

“I didn’t want to play if I was going to hurt the team,” Green said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys.”

Green has been under constant treatment since injuring the ankle in CSU’s regular season finale against Nevada. Ice, elevation and electric stimulation are all being used to help Green get back on the court as fast as possible. Green says he’s much better than he was but “I’m having trouble putting weight on it and getting going full speed. Really, running is biggest problem.”

And of the streak?

“I’d be lying if I sit here and tell you that I didn’t care that it got snapped,” Green said. “All streaks are going to end eventually. Somebody else is going to break eventually. It was good while it lasted, but more importantly it best for me to do what’s best for myself and for the team. Being ready for the NCAA Tournament is our ultimate goal.”

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Colorado State capped its best basketball regular season ever by cleaning up in the Mountain West all-conference honors today.

Center Colton Iverson was named to the Mountain West conference first-team, while guard Dorian Green garnered second-team honors and forward Pierce Hornung nabbed a spot on the third team.

Iverson, meanwhile, was also the MW’s Newcomer of the Year. Hornung was named to the all-defensive team and sophomore Daniel Bejarano was a bit of a surprise selection as the MW’s Sixth Man of the Year. Senior guard Wes Eikmeier was an honorable mention all-conference selection.

FORT COLLINS – Announcements for postseason conference awards take place on Monday, but Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy has already made his choice for Mountain West player of the year known.

His 6-10 strongman center, Colton Iverson.

“I think he should be player of the year,” Eustachy said. “I think the team that wins it, should have a little bit of a, New Mexico, whoever Steve Alford thinks is their biggest impact player, that should count for something that you win the league. But do I think Colton is the best player in the league? Absolutely. It’s just my opinion. But the team that wins the league, they’ve got a lot of good players, too. But Colton’s best basketball is ahead of him.”

Iverson has been arguably the most impactful player on a team that finished second in one of the best conference’s in the nation. After CSU’s win over Nevada on Saturday night, Eustachy argued his team was one explosive performance by New Mexico’s Kendall Williams away from winning the league title.

Either way, Iverson has been huge for the Rams this season.

No player has had more double-doubles in conference play (7) or 10+ rebound games (9) than Iverson. At 14.6 points and 10.4 rebounds he was the only player in the MW to average a double-double in conference play. He is one of only two players in the conference – San Diego State’s Jamaal Franklin is the other – to rank in the top 10 in scoring (seventh) and rebounding (first). Iverson’s 60.6 conference field goal percentage leads the conference by a whopping 11 percent over the next closest player.

“I think he’s the best player in the conference,” CSU forward Greg Smith said. “We’ve seen them all, there’s a lot of talented guys at every position. But you don’t see someone affect the game like he does. He blocks shots, grabs boards, can move up and down the floor and score with the best. He’s just an amazing player and I’m happy to play with somebody like him.”

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FORT COLLINS – Two weeks earlier, Colorado State center Colton Iverson stood on the Moby Arena court and talked about improvement. In his mind, a string of blah performances were piling up, and he was in search of a breakout.

Wednesday night at Wyoming he got just that.

The array of shots was vast and colorful, like a rainbow, ranging from the normal layups and dunks to more hair-raising attempts like a falling-down, sideways-ish bank shot. At the end of it all, Iverson stood 12-for-12 from the field, a career-high 29 points total – not to mention eight rebounds and two steals. It was a player of the year type of performance.

Which brings us to this: Is Colton Iverson the Mountain West Player of the Year?

“I think he’s the best player in the conference,” CSU forward Greg Smith said. “We’ve seen them all, there’s a lot of talented guys at every position. But you don’t see someone affect the game like he does. He blocks shots, grabs boards, can move up and down the floor and score with the best. He’s just an amazing player and I’m happy to play with somebody like him.”

He’s got as good a case as anyone in the MW. No player has had more double-doubles in conference play (7) or 10+ rebound games (9) than Iverson. At 14.1 points and 10.5 rebounds he’s the only player in the MW averaging a double-double in conference play. His rebound total is nearly two more per game than the next closest player.

Iverson is one of only two players in the conference right now – San Diego State’s Jamaal Franklin is the other – to rank in the top 10 in scoring (eighth) and rebounding (first). Iverson also leads the conference in field goal percentage by a whopping 10 percent over the next closest player, and checks in in the MW top 10 in blocked shots as well.

Franklin, last year’s conference player of the year and this year’s preseason player of the year, is the competition. And Franklin has had a typically dynamic season, ranking in the MW’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, assists, free throw percentage, steals and blocks. He’s in the top five in scoring, rebounding and steals.

Iverson, however, has an edge in one very important category – winning.

The Rams, with a win on Saturday against Nevada, could lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference. Meanwhile, San Diego State is fighting to hold onto fourth. The Rams, under first-year coach Larry Eustachy, have carved out a tough-guy identity built on rebounding and defense while still fielding a team that leads the conference in scoring.

No CSU player has embodied the rebounding identity more than Iverson and arguably no Rams have been as good on both ends of the court than he has. In his one season in Fort Collins, he’s helped transform this team into a legitimate squad, one that can honestly expect to stand toe to toe with most other teams in the nation.

Iverson smiles at the idea of winning the award before swiftly dismissing it.

“I don’t really think about that stuff,” he said. “When the season comes to an end, whatever awards are handed out to players it’s a great accomplishment, but right now we’re all focusing on finishing the season strong.”

Iverson’s a first-team all-conference selection without a doubt, and CSU’s MVP as it collects more wins than any other Rams team in program history. But is all of this enough to make him CSU’s first-ever Mountain West Player of the Year?

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New Mexico Kendall Williams drives past CSU's Colton Iverson, left, Wes Eikmeier, center, and Daniel Bejarano, right, during the first half at Moby Arena in Fort Collins on Feb. 24, 2013. The Colorado State Rams lost to the New Mexico Lobos 91-82.

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State players know the stakes in today’s momentous tilt against New Mexico. They just prefer not to talk about them.

“They know that,” CSU coach Larry Eustachy said. “They know what this is about. We’ve got the standings up on the board, the plus/minus. They know we’re tied for first place in the plus/minus and you have to win at home to maintain the tie.”

Colorado State has never finished better than fourth in the 13 seasons of Mountain West play. Today, the No. 22 Rams have a chance to pull into a first-place tie with No. 16 New Mexico with just four games remaining in the regular season after this one.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY – In flirting with first place in the Mountain West, Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy allowed himself a moment to emphasize this team is also flirting with something else:

Greatness.

“I’m talking to our team about being great,” Eustachy said after today’s 89-86 win over Air Force at Clune Arena. “Not good, but great. I’ve had two great teams, and I’d like for them to be the third great team. And we’ve got a long ways to go to do it, but I think they are willing to do it. So, we want to be special. And they all buy into it. They understand how to play. We’ve got a huge week and we’re up for it. These are special guys and I want to throw them in with the other two teams as a great team. We have some work to do before we can say that.”

And that work, Eustachy said, is: “Keep winning. Go to the Elite 8. Get my bonuses; then they’d be a great team.”

He laughed. But this season, while giving the ability for many to smile wide at the results, has been no laughing matter. Winning is serious business to this CSU bunch, and they are winning big-time, with designs on a Mountain West regular season title.

“That’s been our goal since Day 1, when coach got here,” guard Dorian Green said. “We think about it because that’s what we’re striving for. But we’re in the moment, taking it one game at a time, an even-keeled approach.”

Already, the 2012-13 Rams were the fastest team to 20 wins in school history and now are the fastest to 21. They continue to stretch their school-record number of consecutive home wins, now standing at 27. With 21 wins, they are now three shy of breaking the program record for wins in a season. Their 8-2 record is their best start in MW play and best start as a member of any conference since 1961-62, when that team started 8-2 as part of the Mountain States Conference.

They have tied the 1953-54 team for the best 25-game start in program history. The win over Air Force is their sixth straight win, making it the third time this season the Rams have had a winning streak of at least six games. The four-year seniors have won 76 games, five shy of recording the most wins for any class in a four-year period in school history.

Simply: If they keep on this pace, they’ll qualify as the greatest basketball team CSU has ever seen.

Six games remain in the regular season. Then there’s the conference tournament, and what is now an inevitable bid to their second straight NCAA Tournament. Barring an epic collapse, of course.

“If you look at it, the season is winding down,” Green said. “With a veteran team like us we just need to continue to play with some urgency. We started pretty well tonight, so just continue to play with some urgency. They next game is a big one.”

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Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.